1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an impact-absorbing device for a vehicle hood, and more particularly, to an impact-absorbing device provided at a leading edge of a vehicle hood, which device can absorb the impact applied to a pedestrian hit by the leading edge of the vehicle hood, thereby minimizing the risk of the pedestrian injury.
2. Description of Related Art
Regulations on pedestrian safety to protect pedestrians from injury when hit by a vehicle were embodied and expressed concretely in 1999. The enactment of the regulations has been promoted in Europe since 2002.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a vehicle to explain a pedestrian collision test.
According to the regulations on pedestrian safety, as shown in FIG. 1, a pedestrian safety test is performed in four sections (A, B, C, and D in FIG. 1) defined on an upper surface of a hood of a vehicle 10. The safety test comprises adult head test sections A, child head test sections B, upper legform test sections C and lower legform test sections D.
The upper legform test sections C are designed to estimate the risk of femur and hip injury. More specifically, bending moments occurring at femur and hip fractures and the resultant force directly applied to the femur and hips are measured to assess the injury risk to the pedestrian hit by a vehicle.
An impact-absorbing device for absorbing the impact is installed at a leading edge of a hood in order to protect the femur and hips of the pedestrian in accordance with the measured values of the upper legform test section C.
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a conventional impact-absorbing device.
The impact-absorbing device includes a form member 20 provided in an inside of a leading edge of a hood 13 with a damping force, so that when a pedestrian is hit by the hood 13 of a vehicle, the form member 20 cushions the impact of the pedestrian's femur and hips against the hood to minimizing the risk of pedestrian injury.
However, since the femur and hips of the pedestrian are formed in a convex curved surface, only a portion of the femur and hips is cushioned by the form member 20 of the impact-absorbing device, and thus the hit portion is not effectively supported. Consequently, there is a limit to minimizing the risk of pedestrian injury.
The information disclosed in this Background of the Invention section is only for enhancement of understanding of the general background of the invention and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art already known to a person skilled in the art.